Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 391

Chapter 391: Chapter 78: Opportunities in War
War is cruel, especially for civilians caught in the midst of battle, whose lives hang by a thread.

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The people of East Prussia know this all too well; since the Russians occupied their land, their good days have come to an end.

Ficks was just an inconspicuous little town, but it still didn’t escape calamity. The well-informed nobility and businessmen had already fled, leaving behind nothing but a bunch of paupers.

Even so, they couldn’t escape the Russian’s heavy hand. Since they couldn’t squeeze any money out of them, they would conscript the able-bodied men instead.

The town’s only church was now filled with people.

A middle-aged man asked with a worried frown, “The Russians just sent someone over, demanding 500 laborers from the town. Father, what should we do?”

Perhaps the church was the only place spared out of respect for God; the Russians didn’t loot the town’s only church.

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Now that all the prominent figures had fled, the only person left with prestige was the elder Father Prague, to whom the people turned for help.

As a member of the clergy, Father Prague couldn’t run away, nor did he need to. Religion had great influence in Europe, and the Russian Army wouldn’t harm the church, even though it was a Protestant one.

Regrettably, Father Prague said, “My child, I’m aware of this news. I just negotiated with the Russians, and they demand 20,000 rubles to exempt us from labor.

The Russians issued a warning, if we can’t gather the people within a week, they will start killing.”

It never crossed Father Prague’s mind to collect the money; if the nobility and businessmen had stayed, maybe it could have been possible. Now, it was impossible.

It wasn’t that the town lacked 20,000 rubles, but property did not equal cash. The immovable assets of the nobility and businessmen were still here, but sadly the Russians only wanted cash.

No one wanted to fight against their own country, but under the enemy’s roof, one had to bow their head.

The Russians were not easy to talk to; saying they would kill meant they would certainly kill. The young men who first attempted to resist the Russians still had their heads hanging on the town gate’s flagpole.

If one person resisted—kill the whole family; discovering guerrilla fighters without reporting—kill; if someone attacked the Russian Army, execute one in five of all people within 200 meters—kill; encountering resistance groups of more than ten—massacre the town…

Under such oppressive conditions, the local people dared to be angry but didn’t dare to speak out. The war had been going on for so long, and the Russians had already razed countless villages in the East Prussia region.

International public opinion? Unfortunately, the Tsarist Government had grown used to being criticized; they were a case of the more one owes, the less one worries.

Moreover, the Russians weren’t fools; how could they possibly admit to such actions? Without evidence, they could at most be cursed in the newspapers; the Russians feared nothing.

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In this era, cameras were too bulky and the effects of photographs were poor; secret photography was ineffective. The Prussians simply couldn’t produce convincing evidence.

These were all excuses; in reality, the other countries couldn’t do anything against the Russians. Uncovering the truth would make everyone lose face, so they simply pretended not to know.

“What do we do then, shall we run away?”

Someone suggested. Serving as labor on the battlefield was not a good job, especially serving the Russian Army.

The news had spread, and many people knew that the Russian Army liked to use laborers as cannon fodder. This was an experience they had learned from the Near East War; capturing local laborers and using them as cannon fodder could reduce troop losses.

An old man asked, “The Russians are everywhere, where can we run?”

Running away is not as simple as it sounds; with families and empty pockets, and with Russian searches, how far could they get?

A young man retorted, “But we can’t really fight alongside the Russians against our own army, can we?”

The old man scolded, “What do you, a green youth, know? The number of able-bodied men in our town altogether doesn’t add up to five hundred.”

That was the crux of the problem, not whether they were willing, but that it was simply impossible to fulfill the task.

The population of the town was already small; after the outbreak of war, many able-bodied men had enlisted. Now there were simply not five hundred able-bodied men left in the town.

…

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Watching the arguing crowd, Father Prague was very troubled. These were all followers he had gathered, and if these people were gone, so was his livelihood.

“My children, please remain calm before the Lord. I will go to Gniezno right away to ask friends if there’s any other way,” he said.

Gniezno was the closest city to the town. If the Russians were conscripting locally, they certainly wouldn’t just target a small town.

Seeking help in the city was Father Prague’s faint hope. Not all nobility had fled; a substantial part of the East Prussian nobility had remained.

Some chose to organize guerrilla groups to resist the Russian invasion, while others who wanted to flee didn’t manage to escape and now were mostly gathered in the cities.

Europe had no tradition of killing the nobility, provided that you didn’t end up alone. If it was just one person, being killed meant being killed; after all, no one would know.

But gathered together in unity, it was a different matter; the Russian Army would not touch them, which was the rule of the game, applicable to the Russians as well.

In a race against time, Father Prague rode his horse to Gniezno. The sight that met his eyes was one of desolation; the once bustling streets were no longer teeming with people, and the few scattered pedestrians quickly left upon encountering Russian patrol teams.

As a member of the clergy, Father Prague was not interrogated. Of course, he also didn’t approach the Russian soldiers.

Under normal circumstances, Russians would not bother religious figures, but that didn’t mean they dared not to. In these tumultuous times, a few deaths didn’t really matter.

Without loitering, Father Prague directly entered the church within the city. Regardless of status or nobility, Europeans of this era could all find a connection with the church.

There’s a saying that goes: If you want to meet someone, just wait at the entrance of the church.

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“Father, why such a rush?”

The speaker, a middle-aged man dressed opulently, had met Father Prague a few times, and the two were merely acquaintances who nodded to each other.

Having encountered someone familiar while looking to gather news, Father Prague’s face showed a hint of surprise. He asked doubtfully, “Mr. James, haven’t you left?”

The current situation was not good, and wealthy people had all fled to avoid the chaos of war. Under normal circumstances, a well-informed merchant like James couldn’t have been unaware of the situation beforehand.

James answered, “I just completed a business deal and only just returned when the Russians came. But I obtained the citizenship of the Empire not long ago, and the Russians won’t trouble me for that reason.”

“Empire” was naturally the Shinra Empire. Even with the addition of the word “new,” it was still the only empire recognized by the Germany Region.

The Russians were not madmen and naturally wouldn’t seek trouble by targeting foreigners, especially the merchants from allied nations.

Father Prague, somewhat astonished, said, “God bless, Mr. James, you are truly fortunate to have escaped this disaster.

Now, the Russians are looting everywhere. In my town Ficks, because we couldn’t produce money, the Russians threatened to take five hundred laborers.”

Such news naturally wouldn’t escape James. As a successful merchant, the most important thing was having access to information.

At this time, his return to Gniezno was for making money. The Austrian Colony lacked laborers, and shipping migrants to the colony was also a business.

James had spotted the opportunity that war presented. He had signed labor export contracts with several companies from the Austrian colony, and now he was back to recruit people.

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If it were a matter of organizing migrants to move somewhere else, the Russians might interfere. But going to the Austrian colony was entirely unproblematic, and the loans from Vienna were not taken for nothing.

This time, James had also communicated with the Colonial Government. As long as he could persuade the public to move to the colony, the Austrian Foreign Ministry would be responsible for any issues that arose.

James feigned surprise and exclaimed, “God! Five hundred laborers, isn’t that a disaster for the small town of Ficks?”

Father Prague nodded bitterly and said helplessly, “Indeed, it is so. I came here precisely to seek help because I had no other choice.”

Just then, Archbishop Bernard walked over, accompanied by seven or eight priests. Their expressions alone told that something unfortunate had happened.

Father Prague repeated what he had just said, and Archbishop Bernard said helplessly, “I’m sorry, I am powerless in this matter, we’ve all encountered this difficulty.

I’ve already represented the Church in visiting the Russian officers. Regrettably, I wasn’t even allowed through the main gate and was chased out.”

There was nothing to be done; they were from the Protestantism Church, while the Russians were Orthodox Christians.

Considering they hadn’t been met with cries of heretic and violence was grace enough; could they still expect a warm reception?

Seeing the ashen faces around him, James knew his opportunity had come.

“Your Grace, if you want to avoid the Russian conscription, I suggest organizing the public to leave Gniezno first and come back after the war has ended.”

Archbishop Bernard shook his head and said, “Mr. James, your method won’t work. The Russians have set up roadblocks on the main transport routes and simply won’t let anyone leave.”

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James smiled slightly and said, “Under normal circumstances, of course, you can’t pass. However, we can take a detour by another way. As early as two years ago, Russia and Austria signed the ‘Labor Employment Treaty.’

We could sign short-term employment contracts with Austrian companies, then take a ship to the Austrian Colony as refugees, and come back to Gniezno once the war is over.”

This was pure trickery; entering an Austrian colony might be easy, but leaving would be hard.

Just the cost of migration alone wasn’t something ordinary people could afford. By the time they had earned enough money, would they even have a place to return to?

Archbishop Bernard was still contemplating when Father Prague could no longer contain himself, “Mr. James, can this really be done?”

James confidently replied, “Of course! Since the treaty has been signed, the Russian officers will surely enforce it. Otherwise, it could trigger a diplomatic conflict between Russia and Austria, which would be more than the lower and middle-ranking officers could handle.”

Without hesitation, Father Prague said, “Then it’s settled. I’ll go back and inform the public, allowing them to decide for themselves whether to leave.”

Archbishop Bernard intervened, “Father, this issue is too significant; we must consider it carefully.”

He was acutely aware that if all the public left, Gniezno would become a dead city, and what then would be the value of the Church’s existence?

Come back? That’s a tale for children. Once they’d gone to the Austrian Colony, if even one-third managed to return, it would be a godsend.

Father Prague indifferently said, “Your Grace, regardless, it cannot be worse than it is now. I cannot stand by and watch our children slaughter each other.

The Russians recruit our young and strong to be cannon fodder, to have them fight against our armed forces. Can you tolerate such an occurrence?”